Mehmet Okur

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Mehmet Okur
Mehmo.jpg
Utah Jazz  – No. 13
Center-Power forward
Born May 26, 1979 (1979-05-26) (age 30)
Yalova, Turkey
Nationality Turkish
Listed height 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight 263 lb (119 kg)
League NBA
Draft 2nd round, 38th overall, 2001
Detroit Pistons
Pro career 1997–present
Former teams Oyak Renault (1997–1998)
Tofaş S.K. (1998–2000)
Efes Pilsen (2000–2002)
Detroit Pistons (2002–2004)
Awards 2007 NBA All-Star
1x NBA Champion (2004)
Profile Info Page
Medal record
Competitor for  Turkey
European Championships
Silver 2001 Turkey National team

Mehmet Okur (born May 26, 1979 in Yalova, Turkey) is a Turkish professional basketball player who currently plays for the Utah Jazz of the NBA. He is a 211 cm (6' 11")[1] power forward/center.

Contents

[edit] Early career

Okur notes Toni Kukoč was his favorite player while he was growing up.[2] He helped the Turkish 22-and-under national team to 6th place at the 1997 world championship.[3] Mehmet was transferred to Efes Pilsen in 2000 and won a championship in the 2001–2002 Turkish Basketball League season.[4] He averaged 13.5 points per game during his last season in Turkey.[5]

[edit] NBA career

[edit] Detroit Pistons

Okur was selected 38th overall in the second round of the 2001 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons.[6] He played two seasons for the Pistons from 2002/03 to 2003/04, helping Detroit win the NBA championship in June 2004. He became the first Turkish player to win an NBA championship. Due to salary cap limitations, the Pistons were unable to pay a top-level salary for Okur, but he was able to parlay his success into a six-year, US$50 million contract with the Utah Jazz.

[edit] Utah Jazz

At 2.11 m (6'11") and 119.3 kg (263 lb),[1] Okur plays the center and power forward positions for the Utah Jazz. He has inside presence, but also has a reliable jump shot extending to the three-point range and is a solid free throw shooter with an 80.7 career percentage. On his first season (2004-2005) with Utah, he played in all 82 games, starting in 25 of them. Nicknamed "Memo", Okur had made his presence felt on his second (2005-2006) season with Utah from 12.9 points per game the previous season to 18.0 points per game, leading his team in scoring and rebounding, making him one of the league's most improved players. He started in all 82 games for the second straight season, as the only Utah Jazz player doing so. This season, he continued being a key player for Utah. He has also improved his 3 point shot,[7] and is known as a strong clutch player for the Jazz.[8]

On March 13, Okur became the franchise leader for making the most three-pointers in one month with 21 out of 31.[9] He has missed two games this season snapping his streak (233 consecutive games). On Monday, January 12, 2009, Okur established a new career high in points scored when he scored 43 points against the Indiana Pacers.

On July 10, 2009 Okur signed a two-year contract extension reportedly worth approximately $21 million.[10]

[edit] All-Star

He was named to the Western Conference All-Star team for 2007 NBA All-Star Game. He and Ray Allen were selected as replacements for injured original members Allen Iverson and Steve Nash.[11] He is the first Turkish player to participate in this event.

[edit] Personal life

He is married to model and former Miss Turkey Yeliz Çalışkan, and they have a daughter, Melisa, born on March 21, 2007.

[edit] Awards and honors

[edit] NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Last updated: May 19, 2009.[7]

[edit] Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2002–03 Detroit 72 9 19.0 .426 .339 .733 4.7 1.0 .3 .5 6.9
2003–04 Detroit 71 33 22.3 .463 .375 .775 5.9 1.0 .5 .9 9.6
2004–05 Utah 82 25 28.1 .468 .270 .850 7.5 2.0 .4 .8 12.9
2005–06 Utah 82 82 35.9 .460 .342 .780 9.1 2.4 .5 .9 18.0
2006–07 Utah 80 80 33.3 .462 .384 .765 7.2 2.0 .4 .5 17.6
2007–08 Utah 72 72 33.2 .445 .388 .804 7.7 2.0 .8 .4 14.5
2008–09 Utah 72 72 33.5 .485 .446 .817 7.7 1.7 .8 .7 17.0
Career 531 373 29.5 .461 .377 .795 7.2 1.7 .5 .6 13.9
All-Star 1 0 15.0 1.000 .000 .000 2.0 1.0 .0 .0 4.0

[edit] Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2002–03 Detroit 17 0 19.0 .438 .538 .531 4.1 .8 .7 .7 5.5
2003–04 Detroit 22 0 11.5 .470 .400 .692 2.8 .4 .2 .4 3.7
2006–07 Utah 17 17 34.4 .388 .316 .786 7.8 1.8 1.4 .9 11.8
2007–08 Utah 12 12 38.5 .423 .373 .773 11.8 1.9 .7 .7 15.4
2008–09 Utah 2 2 21.5 .167 .333 .750 5.0 2.0 .0 .5 4.0
Career 70 31 23.8 .412 .358 .709 5.9 1.1 .7 .7 8.1

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b NBA Player Profile
  2. ^ NBA.com: Mehmet Okur Biography Retrieved February 18, 2007
  3. ^ World Championship fo.net/pd.asp?p=243 TBLstat.net: Mehmet Okur Retrieved February 18, 2007
  4. ^ Turkish Basketball League history Retrieved February 18, 2007
  5. ^ TBLstat.net: Mehmet Okur Retrieved February 18, 2007
  6. ^ Draft Profile: Mehmet Okur Retrieved February 18, 2007
  7. ^ a b NBA.com: Mehmet Okur Retrieved February 18, 2007
  8. ^ Okur named 2007 All Star
  9. ^ Mehmet Okur Beats Jazz 3-Pointer Record
  10. ^ "Jazz Signs Mehmet Okur to Multi-Year Extension". NBA.com. 2009-07-10. http://www.nba.com/jazz/multimedia/jazz_signs_mehmet_okur_to_extension.html. Retrieved 2009-09-10. 
  11. ^ Allen, Okur get call to replace injured All-Star players, Retrieved February 13, 2007

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Utah Jazz current roster

-- Gaines | 5 Boozer | 8 Williams | 9 Brewer | 13 Okur | 17 Price | 23 Matthews | 24 Millsap | 26 Korver | 34 Miles | 41 Koufos | 44 Fesenko | 47 Kirilenko

Head coach Sloan
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